Reading a District Budget

Every school budget tells a story—about a district’s spending plan, its priorities, goals, and financial health. The challenge is to wade through the jargon and numbers to unlock that story.

Although budgets can vary significantly from district to district, and state to state, this primer seeks to introduce reporters to the fundamental components of a district’s spending plan, offer tips for making sense out of a sea of numbers, and suggest questions that could lead to important stories.

Related Links

So you’ve managed to get your hands on all the records your school district keeps about its budget and spending. Now what? How can you turn a giant data dump into a compelling story for your readers?

In this EWA webinar, you’ll hear how reporters at the Dallas Morning News used public records to create databases of district spending and budget information, and how they used those databases to uncover everything from fraud and mismanagement to cozy vendor-employee relationships to the misuse of federal grants.